How to install VMware 5.5.1 on SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

Situation

null

Resolution

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 came out after VMware 5.5.1 and therefore requires some extra steps to get VMware running.

Download and install VMware 5.5.1 but don't run the vmware-config.pl.
Verify that you have the kernel-source, gcc, gcc-c++, andmakepackages installed by opening a terminal and typing rpm -qa kernel* gcc* make. Your output should be similar to what is shown below with the exception of actual kernel name (could be kernel-default, kernel-smp, or kernel-bigsmp) and the versions (versions might be newer as packages are updated throughout the life of the product).

# rpm -qa kernel* gcc* make
kernel-default-2.6.16.21-0.8
gcc-4.1.0-28.4
make-3.80-202.2
kernel-source-2.6.16.21-0.8
gcc-c++-4.1.0-28.4

Important:Your kernel (default, smp, or bigsmp) and kernel-source versions should match exactly. If they do not then you will not be able to proceed until they do. If the kernel-source, gcc, gcc-c++, and make packages are not installed then you have a variety of resources (like zen-installer, yast, rug, yast2, etc...) that you can use to install software packages. An easy way to install is to open a terminal and su to root and then type yast -i kernel-source gcc gcc-c++ make. You must have the packages installed before you move on.
Download the vmware-any-any-update101.tar.gz file and extract it to a temporary location on your workstation. Open a terminal and su to root and then change the the temporary location were the patch was extracted. You should see a file called runme.pl. Execute that file by typing ./runme.pl at the console prompt. This will build new modules as well as run the vmware-config.pl after the modules are built.
You should now be able to run vmware.

Disclaimer

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